Recent Solar Projects

Seagull Control Systems® Grid Wire Seagull Deterrent for Solar Panels

A severe seagull infestation, including nesting, on a large solar energy project in Boston.The seagull splats on the panels significantly reduced energy production. The cost of cleaning the panels every two months was way over the projected annual maintenance budget. The solar investment group manager contacted Seagull Control Systems to permanently end the seagull infestation. Working with the panel installation contractor and the investor group, we designed a test phase, using our SCS Grid Wire Seagull Deterrent System modified for solar panel protection. In the spring of 2017 the contractor installed our system on a portion of the solar panel array. Instead of aluminum poles to support the nylon coated stainless steel wire above the panels, we supplied slim poles made from a very dense dielectric fiberglass so there could be no accidental electrical conductivity and virtually no shadowing. The test phase was a complete success. Seagulls abandoned the test section, and stayed away through nesting season and afterwards.

The rest of the panels were protected with our grid wire system in the fall of 2017. Energy production has returned to expected capacity. The solar panels are pristine

Green Energy Consulting & Construction, located in central Pennsylvania, is a leader in the design and installation of solar and wind energy generation in the mid- Atlantic states. One of their customers, a marina in Avalon, NJ, had a serious seagull infestation on two of the solar panel arrays that GECC had installed. No one could have anticipated the damage that the gulls were causing. They were using the panels to feed on clams, flying over the panels, dropping the clams on the panels, breaking both clams and panels, and then landing on the panels for their feast. The result—anywhere from 2 to 6 panels required replacement each month, while the white seagull splat significantly degraded the solar power output. We partnered with GECC, designing and delivering the SCS Grid Wire Seagull Deterrent System™, modified for solar panel protection. This modification substitutes fiberglass poles for our aluminum ones, mounted on aluminum plates that are fitted to the solar panel racks. Completely dielectric, fire and UV resistant (the fiberglass we use is commonly used in electrical panel boxes), casting only a slim shadow on a few panels, our grid wires permanently eliminated the seagull problem. No panels have been broken since the installation in the summer of 2016, and both arrays are completely splat-free. A shout-out to Green Energy Consulting & Construction for standing behind their work. They followed through, in partnership with us, to eliminate a problem that a less responsible company could have walked away from.

Stunning beach-front motel in Cayucos, California, installed solar panels to reduce energy costs. The result you see here, an ideal roosting/nesting location for seagulls.

The motel maintenance manager contacted Seagull Control Systems in 2016 and we worked directly with him on the solution. He sent us photos and measurements. We delivered the SCS Grid Wire Seagull Deterrent System™, modified to protect solar panels, and he and his team installed the system in less than a day, following our detailed instructions.

Here is the result, more than a year after installation, the fall of 2017.

No panel cleaning took place after our system was installed. Seagulls abandoned the roof entirely and have not returned.

This photo, looking in the other direction toward the beach and fishing pier, shows the solar panel heavily soiled with seagull excrement in the summer of 2016, prior to the installation of our deterrent system. Within a few weeks of cleaning the panels the white splats were everywhere, reducing power output significantly. The polluted seagull excrement was not confined to this roof and solar panels. It soiled guests’ cars and the motel walkways.

One last cleaning took place and our grid wires were installed, immediately ending the seagull infestation. Seagulls will not land beneath wires. It gives them a form of avian claustrophobia. The result, after a year of keeping seagulls away, is a pristine solar panel array performing as expected, requiring no seagull splat cleaning.